La Cabane, Copenhagen, by Julien Franc Wahlgreen

I designed La Cabane as an answer to the main challenge of home working. Built in a Copenhagen duplex apartment, it functions as a room within a room and creates a distinct space that clearly separates work and private life. Placed on top of a staircase to use some irretrievably lost square meters, La Cabane is slightly elevated from the floor level. Stepping into it brings the sensation of entering a different spatial context. Like the one of checking in at work.

The functionalities of La Cabane are inspired by the renowned cargo van Citroën Type H that has served the work of countless craftmen for decades.

La Cabane can be widely opened to let the natural light come in and unfold its generous volume. It becomes an inviting space large enough (2,40 sqm) to comfortably host one person at work. For that person, the action of opening the flaps before starting a new working day becomes a ritual. The same ritual occurs while closing them when the time has come to switch into family life again. The necessary maneuvers to open and close La Cabane give a tangible frame to a working day spent at home.

When not in use, La Cabane can be entirely closed to minimize its visual impact for the residents of the apartment, both from a physical and a mental perspective. Then, it just works as a giant piece of furniture and the presence of any professional activity in the apartment disappears.

The radical contrast brought by the calm aesthetic of La Cabane’s outside surface and its fully decorated interior visually reinforces the distinction between the two cohabiting universes.

Materials: Douglas pine, birch plywood, brass, leather, acrylic paint, lacquer.

Credits: La Cabane was built by cabinet maker Gustav Sandegård and the inside mural painting is the work of artist Jan Oksbøl Callesen. Photos by Anders Find. Photo editing by Valérie Collart.